The Small Business Safari

Send us Fan Mail Everyone is excited when you have the new baby... Your new business of course! Everything is exciting the first year but, you need to analyze what happened. What worked? What didn't work? It is your job to make those course corrections at the end of that first year. At the end of the day, more businesses fail than succeed. So make sure you have those processes down and you&ap...

Send us Fan Mail Sales. Sales. Sales. Sales! The boys kick off the episode with some great stories! Looking back on the past episodes about year one, Chris says you really should not give up in the first year. This is the year when everything is exciting! If you don't have that business plan, then you are bound to fail and quit. Looking past year one and into years two and three, that is when...

Send us Fan Mail You can't fail in year one... Coming into year one there are a lot of things to consider. The faster you realize you can't just sit back and answer phone calls in the beginning the better. Chris wasn't getting too much business doing this. He knew he could sell the job if he went out there and checked it out himself. He really worked on the relational side of things...

Send us Fan Mail Would you trade a Mercedes for two white vans? Getting those vans and wrapping them, in Chris's own brand, was one of the most exciting things for him in the early days of his business. In this episode, Chris and Alan talk about day one. You think you got a good grasp on the plan and now it's time to execute! There are some great nuggets about day one and the next thirty...

Send us Fan Mail Gold nuggets are being dropped left and right... In this Mini Safari Chris gets you to check yourself before you wreck yourself. As you can hear from this episode and previous ones, building that plan is essential! Getting it done before you start the business is the best time. Chris goes into more detail about marketing. One gold nugget from this episode is only five percent of y...

Send us Fan Mail Having that one friend nudging you might be the thing that makes you successful. Chris and Alan look back at those times that if they didn't have that one friend that pushed them to keep going, they probably wouldn't be successful. More specifically Chris had that person to get him to stay focused on that business plan. Starting from that point, Chris analyzes all the th...

Send us Fan Mail Chris goes back into the past and highlights the important steps he took when developing his business plan. The number one thing he suggests is just getting that plan rolling. It doesn't need to be a work of art. If you do not have it, you are not prepared for success. Getting this developed helps you later down the road when you need advice and help to finance your grand ide...

Send us Fan Mail Some of the best businesses were created on a napkin. Okay, maybe not actually. Chris devoted a lot of his business's success to the fact that he almost perfected his business plan before even starting. A common theme in this episode is the importance of the plan. The business plan is not just a one-and-done deal. It should be a living document. Which a lot of entrepreneurs d...

Send us Fan Mail Tables have turned and now the spotlight is on Alan. Alan's career path is not linear like most people's.  He was born in a town that didn't have too much. Chris makes a good point. You have a nature path and a nurture path. In a nature path, where your family came from is what really motivated you to where you were going. Where you work is your environment. At an e...

Send us Fan Mail Time to chop some wood!   The tables have turned and now it's time to switch to Alan’s story. He was raised in what he described as the worst smelling town imaginable. This was Bellingham, Washington. He had absolutely no business-minded people around him when growing up. But in his family, there were many generations of successful people. He didn't think that the “succe...

Send us Fan Mail The ups and downs of Accenture...   Even though Accenture wasn't his final destination, Chris still learned a ton of valuable information. He thought it was one of the best times for him to build his skills. He was swimming with some big sharks. This pressure really made him polish up his edges fast!   Chris goes into detail about the things he learned. One was about diversit...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever thought water bottles were a rip-off?   Chris picks back up at Anderson consulting. This is one of Chris's first big jobs. He was swimming with the sharks! These people were high-performing, and he was making good money. Later, Chris discovers he can buy a private island with the kind of money his making. Or can he? He works with various bosses and partners. Chr...

Send us Fan Mail  Chris goes in solo...    He introduces us to his other podcast format. The Mini Safari! These are short summaries from the previous episode, and it lets Chris reflect on what him and Alan discussed. These are great for the moments when you don't have time to listen to the full episode. But! You are missing out on some fantastic stories.  Chris really goes in depth of evaluat...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Lalomia and Alan Wyatt embark on the journey of podcasting!  Chris Lalomia the founder of The Trusted Toolbox starts off with his upbringing and dives deep into the world of entrepreneurship. In this episode Alan Wyatt, our co-host, picks Chris’s brain. He was competitive and loved screw threads? Manufacturing was his thing but had bigger dreams. From fried liver mush to lea...